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She reached the forest line and moved up one of the trees with quick motions. Sap stuck to her fingers, and the bark was rough against her palms and her legs. She pulled into the lowest branch and began to climb higher, exerting herself, her muscles straining, as she released a long breath the higher she went.
She reached one of the smaller branches closer to the night sky. A small drone buzzed by, sweeping over the pool and disturbing the water. She watched it, desperately hoping the thing didn’t have thermals.
Tensed in the tree, she waited.
But no shouting. No warnings. She hadn’t been spotted. Yet.
She watched the helicopter spin by again, over the house now, a long spotlight flashing across the roof.
Two police in the backyard. Two more by the sliding back door. At least fifteen cops throughout the front yard, the street, and barricading the road.
She’d spotted a few cops and private security men enter the house, but other than that, she hadn’t seen any threats set foot on the actual premises.
She gripped the bough between her knees, holding tight and exhaling faintly. She then began to shimmy along, watching the drone spin by. Watching the four men in the back of the house. The two by the sliding glass door were in conversation. The two others, patrolling amidst fake palm trees or near the man-made waterfall, were attentive and watchful. These would be the ones to keep an eye on.
Cora wore a dark shirt and dark slacks. She shimmied forward. She hesitated, staring down.
More muttered comments from the guards. Anotherwhump-whumpof the helicopter above. The scent of the water lingered in the air, and Cora tensed. She was now shimmyingoverthe black metal gait, her legs dangling beneath her. She scooted a bit farther, emerging from the tangled tree line, now revealing herself from cover.
Her feet draped towards the blue water.
She tensed, watching the patrols. She would have to time it perfectly. If any of them looked up and spotted her, or if anyone stared at the water, then she’d have to—
Now. She dropped—the two men by the glass door were looking at each other, and the other two were looking away. The drone was along the east side of the house.
She hit the water, with her feet extended, legs pressed together, and arms at her side: a pencil, cutting straight into the liquid with as small a splash as possible.
Under the water now, breath caught in her lungs, she felt the cool liquid against her face, soaking through her clothing in an instant. She spread her arms around her, treading water and blinking a few times and searching desperately. She kept herself low, her knees scraping the bottom of the pool. Chlorine stung her nostrils and nipped at her open eyes. Breath held, she navigated towards the waterfall, using the churning water, and the outcropping stone dispenser as cover.
Still, she stayed under, waiting patiently. If anyone had heard the splash, she needed to give them time to decide nothing was untoward. Moving under the whitened water of the waterfall further helped obscure her dark figure in the liquid. Wearing black clothing would make it easy for them to spot her if they looked too closely.
But for now, as she peered up through the clear liquid, she spotted no figures stepping near the edge of the pool. Her lungs felt comfortable. Holding her breath under water wasnota difficult task given her past.
The waterfall tumbled about her, churning against her skin. She moved slowly, back against smooth, slick tiles as she navigated under the water. Then, she shimmied up, slowly, moving like the shadow she attempted to emulate, hidden by the waterfall. When she emerged, her head breaking the surface in the alcove under the tumbling liquid, she didn’t gasp for air, but rather drew it slowly through her nose in order to avoid unnecessary sound.
Droplets of moisture speckled her cheeks, and her eyelashes flickered, clearing the spray. The scent of moisture and chlorine lingered heavily, and the sound of the drumming water impeded her auditory capacity. She watched the figures through the tumbling water, keeping track of their silhouettes as best as she could.
She waited, gauging the way the figures turned.
And then she moved, quick.
No time for hesitancy. She pulled herself bodily out of the pool, muscles straining. Water slipped from her, dappling the ground, puddling even as she hastened forward.
She’d already plotted out the path.
Bushes first. Pause. Next to the red brick fireplace. Pause.
Here, her shoulder scraping against the stone, she hesitated and listened intently, but no sounds were forthcoming from the sliding glass door. The two cops patrolling the backyard were in a trajectory away from her, just as she’d timed it, but if she dawdled, they’d turn and see her.
Water continued to puddle on the ground. She bit her lip, staring towards the two men by the glass door. They were still in conversation, but every now and then, they glanced up. The drone was zipping by again, moving overhead.
She crouched low in the shadow of the brick wall.
And then, nothing for it—she moved.
This was the riskiest part. The open, ten-meter dash from the open fireplace by the garden seating to the southern wall of the mansion itself.
She didn’t look left or right, but kept low, moving fast, a shadow across the ground. The buzzing above, the voices of the cops, the patrolmen—none of it registered.
